Scolded

I'd been spending too much time working on my club skill over the past few weeks and not enough time participating in Campaign battles, and was in danger of losing my Holyknight Emblem. I managed to do enough Campaign battles last week to retain it though, and got it renewed for another 30 days.

I sure didn't like being scolded though. I don't like being a disappointment!

I'm trying to maintain my medal so I can be ready to rank up as soon as they add more ranks, which will hopefully be in June, with the next version update. I'm really hoping they add more Iron Ram gear to go with the Sallet and Dastanas I got with the last update, and it would be fun to get it as soon as it was available, if possible.

There's some talk on the internet about the possible stats on the body armor, based on people supposedly finding a DAT file for it. I'd talked about the gear in general when the hands/head pieces came out with Draden and Lumikumi, and based on the stats compared to the Valor set, we speculated that the Iron Ram body piece would probably have a bit more HP and Enmity than Valor, with a Magic Damage Bonus, but that just seemed too good, since it would be a better full-time piece than the Valor Surcoat, which is really pretty hard for most PLDs to acquire.

However, the scavenged stats do indeed seem to bear that out, though the "bit more HP" is actually more than double - the rumour is that it will have +50HP compared to the +23HP on the Valor. I still can't believe that they'd basically give this away. It's just too good. Time will tell though, and I want to be ready to get it when it's there.

Yes, I understand that amassing Allied Notes and gaining ranks in Campaign does require a lot of time and Campaign participation, but it's so easy to do all by yourself, and what with the popularity of Campaign with PLDs, there are undoubtedly many in the same position I am (top medal with lots of Allied Notes available). Plus that's all just a side benefit of the real reason I participate in Campaign - to save the world and regain lost exp and build up merit points! To get relic gear, you're paying money for your share of the hourglass, dying countless times over the months and months required to get your relics, losing exp in the process, and no benefit besides the gear for yourself and others. Not to mention there's no guarantee that your relic will drop, or that you will win it if it does. Buying better gear with Allied Notes that I get while saving the world and gaining exp just seems so easy!

If the stats on this do prove to be true, my cherished Valor Surcoat will become merely a piece to macro in for Cover. That makes me a bit sad, but I think I'll get over it.

For the Lion!?

This is exactly news any more, but the March update added a lot of new items to the game, as well as massive improvements (apparently) to the Scholar job, but the most exciting thing for me was some new pieces of Iron Ram gear available for Allied Notes in San d'Oria [S]. The only wrinkle was that the gear is Rare/Ex, which meant that Kiki had to join the Iron Rams in San d'Oria. Fortunately, when you first change to another nation, you don't lose any Allied Notes (I had 144,000 at the time), nor do you lose any medals (Holyknight Emblem).

As soon as I had downloaded the update, Kiki made her way to San d'Oria [S] (OP warp to West Ronfaure from Windurst, jumped into the Cavernous Maw in East Ronfaure, and headed into the city), and talked to the Elvaan in charge of mercenary recruitment. Kiki was sent to look for airship parts in East Ronfaure [S], which were quite easy to find. After returning to town with the airship parts, she was admitted to the Order of the Iron Ram, and then she quickly ran over to the dude who gives out items in exchange for Allied Notes, and obtained her new shinies.

The first piece is the Iron Ram Sallet, which is actually the best tanking headgear I can get without being in an HNM or gods linkshell (Bahamut's Mask, Aegishjalmr, and Koenig Schaller are probably all better), and it was free! It offers good defense, more HP and Enmity than my Valor Coronet +1, plus Magic Damage Reduction. I even like the way it looks with my Valor Surcoat, though comments from others have ranged from "it's so cute!" to "I really don't like that helmet on you".

The second piece is the Iron Ram Dastanas, which are situationally very good. They have more enmity than my Homam and Valor hands (at +4), some HP, and Magic Damage Reduction. They're my new kiting gauntlets, and part of my magic damage reduction/Citadel Buster set.

These two items are available at the Emblem level and cost 40k Allied Notes each. The first week or so I was frequently examined and questioned about the gear by other PLDs, so San d'Oria has been getting a bit of an influx of new mercenary soldiers. I'm hoping they add more pieces for the set in coming updates, so for the time being, I'm fighting for San d'Oria, as odd as it feels. Hopefully Romaa Mihgo won't be too hard on me when I want to return to Windurst.

In the mean time, I continue to participate in Campaign Battles whenever I get the chance. They made some changes in the update, which included the Beastmen strongholds of Castle Oztroja [S], La Vaule [S] (Davoi in the present), and Beadeaux [S]. I have yet to go to those for Campaign, but have at least peeked into each area. I personally like the changes they've made, since the fights actually seem better now. The NPCs can actually hold hate, and the enemies are a bit stronger. A lot of people have complained that they get fewer points now, and the Jugner campers hated having the zone on offensive rather than defensive, but for the way I've always "done" campaign, I'm quite happy with the way things are now.

New Title: Knight of the Iron Ram